DeSantis is Giving $1,000 Bonuses to First Responders

April 1, 2022 Updated 12:19 P.M. ET

WEST PALM BEACH (FCV) – Governor Ron DeSantis is giving another round of bonuses to first responders due to the rise of inflation and gas prices.

The Governor paid visits to the Sheriff’s Office of Palm Beach County and Ponte Vedra Beach on Thursday to announce that he has approved $100 million from the state’s new budget to be given to sworn first responders in Florida.

A $1,000 bonus will be given to every first responder for their efforts, which were demonstrated especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. This group includes law enforcement officers, firefighters, paramedics, and emergency medical technicians.

“Whether it’s a sheriff’s department and sheriff’s deputies, whether it’s a municipal police department, fire, paramedics, EMTs, you name it, you’re eligible. We’re proud to be able to stand without great first responders in the state of Florida,” DeSantis said.

Governor DeSantis noted that Florida has done more for law enforcement than any other state in the country during the conference.

“As national trends over the last two years were to take money away from law enforcement, to turn your back on law enforcement, we stood strong and we would not flinch from being a law-and-order state.”

DeSantis mentioned that these bonuses were not only to acknowledge first responders for their hard work and bravery shown during the COVID-19 pandemic, but to also aid first responders during times of high inflation, where the prices of gas and other goods are consistently on the rise.

“We are seeing huge, crushing inflation, at likes of which this country has not seen for decades.” 

At the conference on Thursday, there were at least 2 dozen law enforcement officers, one of them being Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw, who has much gratitude for the governor and his efforts for first responders.

Bradshaw said, “It’s nice to know that somebody really has our back.”

“When these men and women go out every day and risk their lives, the $1,000 ain’t it, it’s the gesture. It’s the commitment. It’s him standing up here and saying, you know what? I appreciate what you do.”

DeSantis also said that he is planning to approve the H.B. 3, “Law Enforcement,” bill. This bill will give newly employed law enforcement officers in Florida a one-time $5,000 signing bonus.